Rule-makers lay down conditions for goal-line technology

Soccer`s rule-making body IFAB laid down four basic conditions on Wednesday as it confirmed that it was re-opening discussions goal-line technology.

The International Football Association Board, meeting in Wales, also set a deadline of Nov. 20 for companies to present their products and said testing would take place before March 2011, when the next decision will be taken.

Earlier this year, the IFAB had ruled out the use of technology. But FIFA president Sepp Blatter asked it to reconsider following a World Cup match when England had a goal disallowed against Germany but replays clearly showed the ball had crossed the line after bouncing down from the crossbar.

FIFA said in a statement that the technology would apply solely to the goal line, and only to determine whether a goal has been scored or not; that the system must be accurate; the indication of whether a goal had been scored must confirmed within one second; and the result would only be communicated to the match officials.

"A deadline of the end of November 2010 was set for companies to initially present their technologies to FIFA," said FIFA in a statement.

"A proposed testing period will then take place with a selected number of companies, prior to the IFAB annual general meeting on 4-6 March 2011, when the next steps of the process will be determined."